Media release – Save Central Coast Reserves

Community groups disappointed by lack of notification regarding public hearings to sell off community reserves, parks and reserves

Save Central Coast Reserves has recently discovered “by accident” that the Central Coast Council has set the date for the first Public Hearing for their planned reclassification and sell-off of community reserves, parks and reserves. Although many groups have been actively engaging with the former Gosford Council about their concerns on this matter, there appears to have been no effort to advise those groups of the upcoming public hearings.

“It was only because I was dealing with Council on another matter that I became aware that the date has been set for the public hearing”, said Sue Chidgey from Save Central Coast Reserves. “Although we are sure that Council has met their requirements in terms of notification about the public meetings, it is disappointing that there was no communication with those groups that have been actively trying to engage with Council on this matter.”

“Council has not been transparent throughout the whole Land Sale ‘Strategy’ process. It took nearly 9 months to get the Council to list the sites on their website. In addition, Council refused to provide the Terms of Reference for the ‘independent’ consultant,” said Sue.

The first Public Hearing will be held on July 6, 2016 with two time slots available, 12-2pm and 4-6pm, and will deal with 10 of the 25 threatened sites.

“We understand that no time is going to suit everybody, however, Council seems to want to make this process as difficult as possible for the community to have a voice. With many commuters and families with young children on the Central Coast, both these timeslots are difficult for many people to attend. We are calling on the Council to schedule the Public Hearing to allow one daytime meeting and one meeting in the evening when more people are likely to be able to participate”, said Sue.

Jane Smith, from the Community Environment Network, has voiced concern that many communities still do not know that their urban reserve, park or green space is threatened with reclassification and sell-off.

“Many of these reserves and areas of open space are important for environmental and social reasons. It’s important that local neighbourhoods know now what Council is intending to do so that they can provide input into how these spaces are valued by local communities. We are disappointed that Council has not been more proactive in talking to local neighbourhoods and stakeholders directly”, said Jane Smith.

“Gosford Council has been unwilling to provide any details of what assessment has been undertaken to date in identifying the lots that they want to sell. It almost appears as if they just looked at a map and decided which parcels might bring in the most money – without adequate consideration of the local community’s needs or the environmental values,” said Jane. “They have also been unwilling to disclose the history of how these lots came into public ownership. We are hopeful that the public hearings will at least fill in some of these gaps in information and put on the table what process the Council has followed so far”.

Seven groups have formed to rally to protect their local patch of open space.

“Save Central Coast Reserves believes that urban community reserves, parks and green spaces should not be sold off by Council as a means of making money. These sites are important to the community, the environment or both and will be of significant value into the future as our urban areas expand”

“We encourage communities to have a voice on this issue – once sold, we will never be able to get these public spaces back” said Sue.

Media contacts

Sue Chidgey, Save Central Coast Reserves – ph: 0422565097

Jane Smith, Community Environment Network – ph: 0439 853 646

Additional information

The Council’s website states – “In 2015, council endorsed the potential sale of around 30 parcels of land that could deliver much needed funding to reinvest back into vital services, facilities and infrastructure for the community.

This decision followed a review of council’s property portfolio which identified a number of sites that: are no longer required for their initial use, are residual portions from previous works, are of no foreseeable, or limited use to council and the community, or have been replaced by larger nearby facilities.

In recent years council has continued to acquire an average of approximately 28 hectares of new land annually for community and recreational purposes. Reflecting these continued acquisitions, a review of council’s existing portfolio was in the interest of the community as a whole.

An external consultant has been engaged to consider all aspects relevant to each parcel that’s been identified for potential sale.

Legislation requires council to undertake a fully informed and transparent review of all identified community land parcels, which will include public hearings where the community will have the opportunity to speak for or against any land reclassification. The community will be provided with twenty eight days’ notice before each public hearing.

To view the land which has been identified for potential sale, select the relevant suburb listed below.

The images can be enlarged by clicking on them. For more detailed mapping information, you can visit our Mapping page.

Public hearings

Two public hearings will be held on 6 July 2016 at the Erina Room, Erina Centre (adjacent to the Erina Library). The first session will be held from 12pm to 2pm, with the second session from 4pm to 6pm.Submissions regarding the proposed rezoning and reclassification should be addressed to:

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